Wind reed musical instrument



(No Model.) P. J. DEVAULT.

WINDRB ED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

,742- Patented Oct. 16, 1894.

IN VENT 0R ATTORNEY UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP J. DEVAULT, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

WIND R EED MUSICAL- INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,742, dated October16, 1894.

Application filed March 10, 1894. Serial No- 503,082. (No model.)

T0 00% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PHILIP J. DEVAUL'I, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wind ReedMusical Instruments; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters andfigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in wind, reed musical instruments;and its object is to simplify and facilitate the fingering of theseinstruments and render them more nearly perfect in intonation, and thesound more even throughout.

In this specification, I shall describe the invention as applied to theclarinet; and my improved construction will be fully understoodbyreference to the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated anembodiment thereof- In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front View of aclarinet provided with my improvements, or a view of the side which isuppermost when the instrument is held in position for use. Fig. 2 is afragmentary view of the same shown on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is asimilar view of the same part of the instrument, but seen from theopposite side. Fig. 4c is a fragmentary view of the instrument given aquarter turn from the position shown in Fig. 1, but

in the opposite direction from that necessary to show Fig. 3. Fig. 5 isa section taken through the body of the instrument on the line sic-00,Figs. 1 and at. Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line yy, Figs. 1, 2 and3. Fig.

7 is a section taken on the line z-z, Figs. 1

and 2, and illustrating the double cover. Fig. 8 is a perspective Viewillustrating a sleeve, the cover attached thereto by means of a stem,and the projections at the extremities of the sleeve. Fig. 9 is aperspective view in detail, of a cover provided with a raised portion tofacilitate what I term gliding with the fingers.

by springs, while the covers are held open by springs. The keys A, B, O,are lever-like in action, being pressed on one end to raise the other,thereby opening ahole. The covers, on the contrary, are pressed to closethe holes. The parts which are connected with the covers 13, 14 and 15to operate them, are called keys, as the parts marked D, E, F and G inthe drawings.

' It will be observed from Fig. 1 of the drawings that the body of theinstrument and the keys A, B, O, in my improvedinstrument are notchanged from the ordinary construction of similar instruments; but theconstruction, arrangement and operation of the covers designated by thenumerals 1 to 15, both inclusive, are new, and constitute my invention.

The holes 16 which are bored in the tubular body 16 of the instrument togive the different sounds are all placed at the top, front,

or upper side in a straight line as indicated by the covers 1 to 15, andat such a distance apart as to give sounds half a tone from one another.Hence, when these holes are opened or closed one after another, thesuccession of sounds emitted, complete what is know as the chromaticscale. This arrangement, which is a part of my invention, not onlyfacilitates the fingering, but also obviates the necessity for employingthe supplementary keys with which ordinary instruments of this class areprovided. Iam thus enabled to do away with the holes in the sides andbottom of the instrument, rendered necessary by the use of supplementarykeys. These holes allow the escape of the moisture of condensationresulting from the use of the instrument, and oftentimes resulting inmuch annoyance to the performer.

The sound holes in my improved instrument are all closed or opened bycovers which are designated by the numerals 1 to 15 as heretoforestated, each of which is provided with a stem a made fast to a separatesleeve section a, as best illustrated in Fig. 8. These sleeves belongingto the covers 1 to 12, both inclusive, are all supported upon a singlestraight shaft 17 which passes through all of said sleeves, whileanother shaft 18 passes In the following description, I shall speakthrough the sleeve sections connected with the covers 13,14 and 15.These shafts 17 and of keys and covers. The keys are held closed 18 arestationary, and are held in place by apertured lugs 19 made fast to thebody of the instrument. The covers numbered 1 and 2 are operated by thethumb of the left hand through the instrumentality of the key-levers 20,as best illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6. The covers 3 to 7, both inclusive,are operated directly by the first three fingers of the left hand; thosefrom 8 to 12 by the first three fingers of the right hand; While thecovers 13, 14 and 15 are operated by the fourth finger of each handthrough the instrumentality of the keys D, E, F and G. The key F engagesa crank-arm 17 on shaft 17.

It will be seen from the drawings that all the covers from 1 to 15, bothinclusive, are so connected, that by closing any one of the covers, allthe others on the side in the direction of the mouth piece from thecover directly acted on or pressed, will be closed, but not those in theopposite direction. To accomplish this, the extremities of the sleevesections are provided with projections (1, cl made fast to the sleeves.The projection d of any sleeve is adapted to overlap the projection d ofthe adjoining sleeve. Each projection 61 carries a screw g which entersa threaded aperture and engages the projection d of the adjoiningsleeve. The function of these screws is to regulate and accuratelyadjust the projections d, d, whereby their relative position may be suchthat the covers will close their respective holes tightly when desired.

The necessity for the accurate adjustment of the sleeves, whereby thecovers are all made to act in harmony with one another, will be readilyobserved.

The advantage of closing all the covers in the direction of the mouthpiece, when any cover below is pressed or closed, will be easilyunderstood, since this feature enables the performer to pass from anyone note on the instrument to any other note, by the movement of onefinger; while with instruments of ordinary construction, the passingfrom one note to another, often requires the movement of severalfingers, which is difficult, since they must all move simultaneously inorder that the instrument may sound properly.

From the description heretofore given, the facility with which diatonicscales may be executed on my improved instrument, will be readilyunderstood.

I will now explain the manner of executing the chromatic scale upon aninstrument provided with my improvements. In tho diatonic scale, theintervals are mostly whole tones, and in their execution, the covers areopened and closed by twos; while in the chromatic scale, the intervalsbeing all half tone, it is necessary to open or close the covers one ata time, in succession; and since there are more covers to be operatedthan the performer has fingers, it becomes necessary for some of thefingers to operate two covers each, one after the other. This can onlybe done by gliding. This gliding movement upon the covers can only beobtained by con necting the covers as I have done, that is, by means ofsleeves having overlapping projections attached to the sleeves, since inthis case, the over-lapping parts otter no obstruction to the movementof the fingers. This gliding movement must be easy of execution in orderto insure rapidity of performance; and to further facilitate ease andrapidity of finger movement during this action, I have provided everyalternate cover, from 3 to 7, both inclusive and from 8 to 12, bothinclusive, with a raised part 7L, whereby when this cover is down, thepart It will still be on a level with the next open cover, thus enablingthe finger to move easily from the closed to the open cover.

One more illustration will suffice to make clear, my method ofperforming the chromatic scale by the gliding of the fingers from onecover to another:

The foregoing example is fingered in the following manner: The firstnote, which is G, is obtained with all the covers open. For the second,I press with the thumb of the left hand upon a key-lever 20 mounted on ashaft 21, and having an arm 20 engaging an arm ct made fast to thesleeve of cover 1. This closes cover 1 and gives note G fiat. The thumbis then moved a little downward so as to reach the other thumb key 20which closes the next cover and gives the note F. The first finger ofthe left hand now closes cover 3 for the note E. \Nithout raising thefinger, I glide to cover a for the next note, which is E fiat. I now usethe second finger to close cover 5 for the note D, and glide the samefinger to cover 6 for note D flat; and use the third finger for the note0. This finger does not glide in playing the scale, descending. Next,the first finger of the right hand is placed upon the raised part ofcover 8 to close it, which gives the next half note below 0, which is B.This finger then glides to engagement with cover 9 for B fiat. Thesecond finger of the same hand is now used to close cover 10 for thenote A. It then glides to cover 11 fon the note A fiat. I then use thethird finger on cover 12 for the note G. This finger also does notglide, descending. The next note is obtained by pressing the fourth, orlittle finger, of the left hand upon the key D which closes cover 13.Hence, only the first and second fingers of each hand glide, Inascending, I place the first descending.

three fingers of each hand upon the raised covers, or covers providedwith the raised part It for the lower note G. I next glide the thirdfinger of the right hand from cover 12 to cover 11, allowing cover 12 toopen, giving the next half note above G, which is G sharp. The thirdfinger is then raised from cover 11, holding cover 10 closed with thesecond, and the note A is given. I then glide the second finger fromcover 10 to cover '9, allowing cover 10 to open for the note A sharp. Ithen raise second finger from 9 for note B; then take off first finger,which does not glide, ascending, and we have the note C. The thirdfinger of the left hand, which is closing cover 7 for O, is now glidedfrom cover 7 to cover 6, allowing cover 7 to open to give the note Csharp. Then by raising the third finger from cover 6, it opens and givesthe note D. Then the second finger of the same (left)' hand glides fromcover 5 to cover 4, allowing cover 5 to open, giving the note D sharp.Then raise the second finger from cover 4, allowing it to open, thusgiving the note E. Then raise first finger {which does not glide,ascending) off cover 3 for the note F. Now the thumb of the same handglides a little to let go of the key 20 which closes cover 2, which thenopens, giving the note F fiat. Then remove the thumb from the key 20,which closes cover 1, allowing it to open, and we have the note G.

While in descending, as we have seen, only the first and second fingersof each hand.

glide; in ascending,I glide the third, then the second, but not thefirst finger of each hand. The following lower notes are obtained byclosing and opening the covers numbered 13, 14 and 15. First, G flat isobtained by closing cover 13, which is accomplished by pressing the keyD with the fourth finger of the left hand. For the next note F, I closecover 14 by pressing on key G with which the cover is connected; and forthe next and last'note E,

' I close cover15 by pressing on key E with the fourth finger of theleft hand. The keys E and D are attached to separate sleeves c mountedon the shaft 19. The sleeves c of these keys are provided with shortarms "cengaging similar arms 0 made fast to sleeves c of the covers 13and 15, respectively. The 0011- nection of the arms 0 and c isillustrated in Fig. 5, from which, the mechanical operation of closingthe covers 13 and 15 by pressing the keys D and E, will be readilyunderstood. As I have before stated, only two fingers of each handglide; and when my system is properly learned, there can be no passagesin music that could require the gliding of fingers from a lower to araised cover; but the gliding is always from a raised cover to the nextlower. Hence, it makes gliding easy, and gives a smooth and evenchromatic scale.

- By my improved construction, the intonation of the clarinet is muchimproved, as will be readily understood.

The construction of the clarinet, as heretofore used, requires that anumber of the sound holes be closed by placing the fingers over them.Such holes, of course, have to be placed so as to accommodate thefingers, which necessity brings some of these holes out of their properplaces, often to the detriment of the sound. In my construction, on thecontrary, the holes can be placed where they are required, in order togive the best sound, since the sound holes are closed by covers, and themechanism can be brought under the fingers. Another serious defect inthe ordinary construction of clarinet is, that some of the notes have tobe obtained by what is known as fork-fingering, that is, some of theholes have to be opened between holes that are closed. The resultingnotes, besides being very difficult to execute, are always thin anddisagreeably shrill. My construction corrects this defect, since theconnection of the covers not only obviates all necessity forfork-fingering, but also renders such fingering impossible.

In the execution of the extremely high notes of the upper register, theclarinet now used is very defective, in that these notes are uneven-someshrill and some loud, others weak, and sometimes false-while thefingering necessary to obtain these notes is difficult and irregular.These defects, 1' have corrected by means of a double cover designatedin the drawings by the numeral 3. This cover is provided with anauxiliary part 3 located underneath the main part of the cover. This isshown in section in Fig. 7, and in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The upperpart of the cover is attached to a sleeve 0 mounted on the shaft 17, thesame as the other covers, except its sleeve is not provided with aprojection d located beneath the projection d of the sleeve connectedwith cover 4. The underneath part, 3*,which is provided with a smallaperture 3, is attached to a short bar 3 which is provided with a shortsleeve 3 mounted on the shaft 17. One extremity of the bar 3 isoverlapped by the projection d of the sleeve 0 belonging to or connectedwith cover 4. Hence, the lower part 3 of the cover is closed or presseddown, every time any 1 cover below it, or farther from the mouth piecethan itself, is closed; while the upper part of the cover is only closedby pressing said part directly, in which case, it closes the auxiliarypart 3 and also, both covers 1 and 2, since the sleeve of the upper partof the cover 3 is provided with a projection 01 overlapping a projectiond onthe next sleeve. The two parts of the cover 3 are normallymaintained in the open position by independent springs, not shown, butof the same character shown in Figs. .3 and 4, and designated by thenumeral 25. These springs are employed to hold all the covers normallyopen.

The springs 25 are small steel wires, or needle springs, made fast atone extremity to lugs c on the sleeves 0, while they engage stop pins 26at the opposite extremity, where they have the necessary movement tomake them operative. While playing in the middle and lower registers ofthe instrument, this cover 3 is fingered like the others as if it wereone, in which event, both sections open and close together, allowing thefull hole in the instrument tube to open; but in the extreme upperregister, or when the instrument is required to play higher than thefirst C above the staff, the upper section of the double cover isallowed to open byraising the finger which .operates it while the lowersection is held closed by its being connected with the sleeve of thenext cover, 4:, which is then pressed down by the second finger. All thefingering for these upper notes is done by the covers from 5 to 9, bothinclusive, keeping cover t closed all the time, which, of course, keepsthe lower section 3 of the double cover 3, closed at the same time. Thesmall vent hole 3 of the part 3 of the double cover, which is thusopened in this particular part of the clarinet, owing to the acousticnature of the instrument, makes these higher notes as soft and even asthe notes in the lower registers, and renders the fingering forexecuting the notes of the upper registers, as easy and regular as forthose of the lower registers.

Every one who understands something of the clarinet, knows how diflicultit is in the execution of some of the trills on that instrument; such,or the difficult trills, can only be performed by a special fingeringwhich requires much labor and practice.

From the description heretofore given, it will be understood that withan instrument provided with my improvements, every trill, whether wholeor half tone, is very easy and simple to execute, since in passing fromone note to another, only one finger is used. All the trills throughoutthe whole extent of the instrument, are accomplished by the regularscale fingerings, and by the movement of one finger.

From this description, the great advantages of my improvements will bereadily under stood by those skilled in the art to which the inventionpertains.

I have heretofore spoken in this specification of the reed, wind musicalinstrument, exclusively. It must be understood, however, that myimprovements are equally applicable to the instruments known as theflute and piccolo.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a wind reedmusical instrument, the combination with the tube, of the covers forclosing the sound holes, sleeve sections movably mounted on the tube andprovided at their extremities with overlapping projections, and narrowstemsconnecting the covers with the sleeve sections, whereby the coversproper are unobstructed by the overlapping parts, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a wind reed musical instrument, the combination with the tube, ofthe covers for closing the sound holes, sleeve sections movably mountedon the tube and connected with the covers by narrow stems, the sleevesections being provided at their extremities with overlappingprojections and means engaging said projections for adjusting theposition of the covers relatively to each other, whereby they all closesimultaneously, substantially as described.

3. Ina reed, wind musical instrument, the combination with the tubularbody part, of a stationary shaft attached to the body part, sleeve-sections movably mounted on said shaft and provided with stems carryingcovers adapted to close the sound holes, the adjacent sleeve extremitiesbeing provided with overlapping projections,and adjusting screws carriedby one set of projections and adapted to engage the other set,substantially as described.

41. In a reed, wind musical instrument, the sleeve-sections provided ateach extremity with a projection, one of said projections carrying anadjusting screw, and a stem attached to the sleeve and carrying a soundhole cover at its free extremity, substantially as described.

5. A wind reed musical instrument provided with connected covers forclosing the sound holes, every alternate cover from 3 to 7, bothinclusive and from 8 to 12, both inclusive, having projections formed ontheir upper surfaces, whereby the projecting parts of said surfaces areraised above the corresponding surfaces of the adjacent covers tofacilitate the execution of the chromatic scale, substantially asdescribed.

6. A reed, wind musical instrument provided with sound hole coverscomposed of two parts, onelocated directly above the other, the lower orinner part being capable of independent operation, and having anaperture much smaller than the sound hole in the tube, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I at'fix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

PHILIP J. DEVAULT.

lVitnesses:

BRINTON GREGORY, CHAS. E. DAWSON.

